There is a very great use of hanging folders in filing systems by office workers, whether in professional or clerical capacity. Such folders are produced in large quantities, for example, by Esselte Pendaflex Corporation, Garden City, N.Y. The folders comprise a slightly stiffened paper sheet or board having a V-fold at its approximate center. Metal rods reinforce the folder edges that are parallel to the fold line, and the rods extend beyond the side edges of the folder. A hook shape or tip at each end of these rods is suitable for hanging the rods over horizontal bars or rails that are provided, frequently as part of a framework structure in a file cabinet or desk drawer. The weight of the folder, and its contents in use, hold the rod hooks or tips in place on the frame bars, where they are readily slidable along the length of the bars.
However, a problem arises in that the hanging folders tend to slip off the side bars, particularly when folders are pushed apart to make room for another folder, and when folders are slid along the supporting rails or bars.
Longer tips at the rod ends, effectively creating a deeper hook, would tend to resolve this problem and also prevent the rods from bending. However, rods with longer tips have not been manufactured because the rods are formed from sheets of metal. Making the tips longer in their prior art configurations creates too much waste material or too much material usage, i.e., the rods become bulkier. In either approach to the problem, more material is consumed and costs increase.
What is needed are rods for hanging folders which have longer tips without excessive scrappage and cost.